National News

MH370 Captain 'Planned Route' to Remote Island

by Neal Colgrass, Newser Staff

(NEWSER) – Malaysia's police probe into the downing of flight MH370 has zeroed in on one suspect: the captain, who had plotted a flight path to a remote island on his flight simulator at home, according to a report in the Sunday Times. The investigation doesn't rule out terrorism or mechanical failure in the March 8 disappearance, but investigators haven't been able to build a case against anyone else on the flight. If intentional human action took down the plane, the circumstantial evidence points only to Captain Zaharie Shah, 53, the Times' report suggests. For example:

On his flight simulator, Shah charted a route that would see a plane land on an unnamed island in the south Indian Ocean, the Telegraph reports. The route was deleted from his simulator but retrieved by computer experts.

Shah was "unique among those on board the flight" for having no planned commitments, personally or professionally, after MH370 was scheduled to land, theIndependent reports.